(Average+) Wednesday

Series in one sentence:
American colonizers killed other American colonizers, but the evil ones were slightly whiter.

Series in more sentences:
Wednesday Addams is sent to a peculiar high school her parents attended themselves, inhabited by supernatural beings. Through a series of unsolved monster attacks plaguing town, she learns more about her family's background, and Wednesday can't help but chase the mysteries this seemingly boring town holds.

I've been fighting with my Rottentomatoes account for months, so don't mind me putting this here.

This entertained me fine enough, Wednesday herself was a joy to watch, but there were plenty of things I just didn't buy. Though the character is mostly consistent in her behaviour, there were still conflicting moments I rather didn't have. This Wednesday is an interpretation of her, no matter how much she seems identical to the dead-pan child of darkness from the 90s that popularized her.

The first clue we're given is her unreasonable disdain for her mother. I didn't like this random, forced conflict the series started off with. That's not Wednesday, nor has that ever been Morticia's struggle. Unless I've missed some other Addams Family rendition, this woman is the queen bee of the family. Her word is always obeyed, even by Wednesday.
Morticia is overly romantic, that's not something Wednesday can relate to, but there's nothing about her mother that should offend her. Morticia isn't some pink-ribboned suburb mom, but Wednesday sure acts like it. Why? They're identical in their morbidness and interests.

What follows soon after is that Wednesday's immediately thrown in a love triangle with two men she wisely gives little of her time, and this could've been a funny running gag if the dudes and series itself didn't take it so seriously. Why do these boys act so offended every time they're rejected or ignored? It's not like they were ever super close, it's real damn silly. The artist guy especially has no reason to be this attached, and the speed in which he comes back smiling after an overdramatic boohoo scene makes it hard to take him seriously.
I don't mind the character arc of these love interests, but it -and this is the case for pretty much every character in the show- goes way too fast. There's no proper build-up.

Wednesday remains the biggest issue for me, though, since she's an established character.

It's surreal seeing her getting spooked by (attempted) murders happening in front of her, getting upset over the prospect her father is a criminal, or even seeing Gomez and Morticia in a flashback scene where they battle a crazed man with genuine fear in their eyes. Thing gets stabbed and Wednesday is crying. Like, what? This is normal people-drama, the real Addams' would not have made a big deal out of it, they'd 100% be murderers themselves, even if it's accidental, and celebrate it with glee.
Getting her father out of jail and Morticia crying about it should not have been a plot point. It would've been so much funnier if everyone went "lol, enjoy your holiday Gomez" and left him in prison. Everyone moves on, then Wednesday proves her father's innocence by pure accident the same day he's jailed, comically upsetting the family.

I also didn't think the role of liberal leftist detective fit Wednesday. This girl is defined by her "don't give a fuck", but in this show she's fairly political and oddly driven to crime-solving. Not because the idea of seeing corpses or meeting criminals intrigues her, which would've been a plausible reason, but because she has this insatiable urge to unravel mysteries. Not common behaviour for a nihilist.

The show throws around alot of modern day terms, like "biased", "oppression", "discrimination", "whiteness", you know the drill, and it became slightly annoying after a while. I'm sure it was meant as a joke, but the general plot -which is meant to be taken seriously- also uses the same points of criticism. This is not how the Addams' do. The regular crowd doesn't like them and they ignore it, because they love themselves. They wouldn't complain about being discriminated against. Getting burned at the stake is a birthday present to these freaks.

The general plot revolves around "outcasts", also known as supernatural humanoids, trying to live amongst humans that still persecute them. That can be fun and have a valuable double meaning, but it's one I don't believe Wednesday would engage in. Her uncaring attitude would be welcome in a community where everyone feels the need to adapt or prove something, but that's not her role in the story. Here she is instead, going out of her way to solve some kind of mystery she'd realistically speaking wouldn't even get out of bed for.

It's probable that the vast majority of people won't recognize the points I just made, or not see why they matter, and that'll make this show way more entertaining, so that's good. For them. I just wish Wednesday cared less and the show had more episodes to help develop all those rushed character arcs thrown at us.

The rampaging, giant 3D Smeagol walking the woods didn't even slightly hold my attention, not until the end, and the main villain has an unexplained magic staff and somehow could not be confronted by these powerful students, who instead chose to run. We have mermaids with brainwash powers, vampires who somehow manage to sit in daylight, werewolves with the same strength as the forest monster everyone's struggling to stop; this is a setting that makes it hard to introduce a villain, unless that villain is a half-god. Not an undead pilgrim with a staff that only casts wind. And is defeated within 2 minutes.
The prophecy was nonsense as well. The popular mermaid girl struck the villain where it should've killed him, but if we assume she missed by a fingernail, she was still the sole reason Wednesday succeeded. So, yes, an anti-climax of an ending, though the series conveys there's still a threat watching Wednesday. Customized animated Whatsapp emoticon included, real scary threat there..

So far my review. Despite everything, I'd watch more. It just needed more time to brew; more episodes to really establish these relationships. The characters work well on each other, but their responses sound foolish at times, since we've seen so few interactions to warrant those responses.
I'm not asking much. Wednesday should refrain from smiling and shedding tears at all times and I'd rather not have her or her series become gothic Nancy Drew.
Just have Wednesday, ruining everyone's day.

Also, Wednesday kissing a guy was cursed. She would've loved seeing my response.

(Average+) Syraph of the End

Series in one song lyric:
Hey, I just met you
and this is crazy
but here's my full name
now you're my family

Series in more sentences:
A group of orphans witness the death of all adults in the world and are captured by vampires as to become their food dispensers. When they plan to escape years later, it goes wrong and only the short-fused Yu manages to reach the other side of the fence, where he's awaited by a human team of demon hunters.

Yu grows up impatient and eager to avenge his lost friends as a demon hunter, even after learning the disturbing practises he's been made a part of.

It almost looks like this is where The Promised Neverland got their main plot (and horrible ending) from.

A good concept sits in this overstuffed, emotionally rushed story. There was no need to introduce a lethal illness that killed the majority of the human population, later claimed to be the results of global experimentation, to then add vampires who keep human children as "cattle", people transforming into doomsday angels, random beasts roaming the land, and demon-infused weaponry and mental possession.

And there's not only an abundance of story elements, but also characters, none of who get the screen time needed for us to care when something bad happens to them.

This anime is dependant on the relationships people share with each other, but most of it wasn't believable and it didn't help that the majority of characters were a bore. The main character especially. He has no defining traits, except that he's a short-fused boy who's way to eager to call acquaintances "family".
The anime doesn't bother to show him actually interact with his new friends in any meaningful way. It's like the script wasn't written for this many characters, there's only a decent focus on a few of them.

For example, the brown-haired wussy boy and the blonde-pigtailed girl are sidelined very early in the story, and suddenly, it's decided that the first girl character is the one who's in love with Yu. Her personality was really inconsistent and it didn't even matter in the end. None of the romantic storylines went anywhere.

Nevertheless, and perhaps surprisingly after reading my review, I liked it. I would've given it a good rating if it wasn't for the horrible ending.
Season 2 suggests there'll be a season 3, but since this show dates back to 2015, it's safe to say it won't come. This is an incomplete series, be aware when you decide to watch it.

(Average+) Love of Kill

Series in one sentence:
..."Messege".

Series in more sentences:
A rookie hitman is suddenly stalked by another hitman, who expresses to have romantic interest in her. Dubious of his intentions and unflattered by his manipulative personality, she tries to keep distance between them, yet something keeps them connected.

That mouthless office character is distractingly horrible, yuck.

I also didn't think the two main characters were good together.. if the guy's love for her is even supposed to be genuine, because at some moments I was truly wondering.

Chateau's not a particularly good hitman. I know she's the rookie, but her main role in the story was that of a damsel in distress, so why even write her to be a hitman if she doesn't hit men. It's been a while since I've watched this, but I truly don't remember seeing her do a damn cool thing. She puts on a serious face and a serious act, but is always pushed into submission by her two-faced stalker.

This anime really needs a second season, I was surprised to see it end where it did, and yet, I'm not entirely sure if I'll come back to see it.

(Average+) Aharen-san Is Indecipherable

Series in one sentence:
Autism.

Series in more sentences:
After going through elementary school getting shunned for his angry face, Raidō is set on making a friend on his first day of high school. However, the girl he has his eyes set on has her own bad childhood experiences and admits not to know how to conduct herself towards a friendly face.

When it becomes clear he won't push her away regardless of what she does, she instantly becomes attached to him. It's the start of a charming, yet odd friendship.

Almost good, but some of the later episodes slightly dragged down the series. Raidō's moments of wild imagination were a bit too much at times as well. Like, my guy, you're not 8 anymore.

I love shows that manage to reel me in the first few seconds of the first episode, and characters like Raidō are my favourite; friendly, timid, trying to see the best in every weird situation, and an angry-ass face.
Characters like Aharen I've seen way too often, but she pushes my boy in plenty of awkward situations and they're fun to watch, so I won't complain.

I got worried when this Aharen-obsessed girl showed up out of nowhere, because, like, wasn't she supposed to be a friendless outcast? This girl was not entertaining to watch and just another overly scared and shy fangirl archetype, but even though she could've been left out, I didn't mind her as much at the end of the season. If the show committed to the spying-running gag and showed her hiding away in all kinds of crazy places every few scenes or so, that would've been genuinely funny.

The camping drama was an interesting turn of events, but the conclusion was truly soft-brained. The pure idiocy. What a disappointment.

In any case, not a bad watch, the first few episodes alone make it worth it. Would watch another season, honestly.

(Average+) Psychic Princess

Series in one sentence:
Prince who hates his wife discovers her family also hates her and she was given to him as a consolation prize, and he thinks that's super cool.

Series in more sentences:
In order to maintain peace, a prime minister has promised to give his daughter's hand to the eldest son of emperor Ye, but the spoiled girl refuses to marry a stranger, forcing him to approach his other, discarded daughter to take her place.

Xi is the child of a persecuted "witch", and as she's believed to bring bad luck because of her ability to see ghosts, was dumped since a young age with a physic master to live in the mountains. Though she has many talents, none of them are useful for the role of a dainty princess.

This would've been a very easy "good" with some minor changes, but it doesn't even have an ending.

Psychic Princess is full of cool ideas and interesting storylines, but all rushed, abandoned, or just not explained well. It's clumsy in its storytelling, as wants to do too much and takes forever to answer very simple questions; like what the deal with Xi's powers and banishment is.. and then you get only one sentence of info to work with until the next hasty comment, episodes later.

Love interests are introduced, but pretty much leave the scene right away, the ghost sidekicks and supernatural elements itself could've been left out, and then there's the idea everyone believed the main character was a man just because she had her hair in a ponytail. This was by far the most laughable thing in the show.

Or well, there's the intro song, but after laughing the first time, I finally saw the truth and realized it was a bop.

Xi is a mostly fun character and her reluctance to get romantic with anyone was nice at first, but by the time the romantic plot officially made its start, this character trait overstayed its welcome.
Not that it mattered, the romance doesn't reach a conclusion. Like I stated at the beginning of this review, nothing the show starts on is finished. The first half is more or less about Xi getting ignored and making use of her free time, meanwhile, the threat of a Trojan horse-like war is coming up, but in the next half of the anime, it just forgets all about the war and focusses on the growing romance with the one prince I didn't expect Xi would get with. I honestly thought she and that other prince were going to hook up.

When the romance started, I'd say it was mostly done right. I see what they were trying to do with prince Ye, though I don't know how the discovery his wife's the wrong sister made him suddenly want to try and connect with her. It's backwards.
He should've already fallen for her weird behaviour and antics if that's what supposedly did it for him, but the guy was rude and locked her up for it at first. This switched sister-reveal should've been a test of love, not the realisation of it.

Psychic Princess was a tolerable watch, it kept me entertained, but in the end, offered little for my time. I'd watch a season 2 for that closure, but it doesn't look like it'll ever come. This show is from 2018.

(Average+) Tokyo Revengers

Series in one sentence:
Useless man feels sympathy for criminals he just met.

Series in more sentences:
A young man with a lacklustre existence gets pushed in front of a train one day and transports back 12 years into the past. He uses this opportunity to try and stop the death of the one girl who ever loved him, but his meddling becomes the start of many complicated situations.

Started so good, became so average+.

It took a turn I didn't expect it would and the story is mainly set in the hopeless world of crime. Having that said, why is Takemichi so willingly involved in all this and how can he consider the intimidating assholes he surrounds himself with his friends? They're not friends if you're scared of them.

It's hard to care about any of these punks, as they constantly death-stare each other or inflict physical assault, making the claims of friendship and their "fun" moments feel disingenuous.
The main character got punched so often, it started to bore me. Why hasn't the constant abuse motivated him to start working out or pick up a fighting sport? He's laughably unprepared every time. Takemichi is a loser, I don't enjoy seeing him on screen, he refuses to change.

I also found it strange that the love interest is interested in Takemichi. She constantly finds him beaten up and even brings up his less pleasant behaviour that emerges the moment his future self isn't taking over the body of his young self, as if the "real Takemichi" from that time period never really was all that romantically interested in her. Clearly the guy is stressful to be around, so, why did these two start dating?
Takemichi didn't really bother to keep contact with her and she didn't stick around in his mind for all these years -not until he happened to discover she was killed. Why is preventing her death so important to him? Because going back in time reminded him of how nice she was and he's a dweeb with little else going on? Either someone made an everlasting impact on you or they didn't, there shouldn't be any "reminding" necessary in a love story.

Takemichi's main goal of saving her involves way too much work that -realistically speaking- no one who has a connection this weak with another person would let themselves get beaten up over.

But the story almost could've won me over. There's this point in time where he determinedly utters the promise to get at the top hierarchy of his gang, I was on the edge of my seat after that, but it was a damn let-down.
The guy is just too much of a wet blanket; he always just stands there, letting things play out, instead of properly interfering, and yet, the neglectable things he does and says are always being overblown by the anime and the characters in it.
His docile, boyish crybaby demeanour would've gotten him killed in any realistic setting.

I don't know if I care to watch any more of this. Not unless the main character starts cleaning up his act and does something cool.

(Good) The Lives of High School Boys

Series in one sentence:
The main character is immediately erased from the series because reasons.

Series in more sentences:
What do high school boys do and think about? Probably not this, but they made it a show anyway.

The comedy isn't consistently good, but I really liked this.

My main complaint is the speed they shoved aside the "main character" for his two friends, and I understand it's part of the joke, but these two need a semi-gullible straight man. I didn't like them together that much, but as a trio, they create some comedy gold.

(Average+) A Herbivorous Dragon of 5,000 Years Gets Unfairly Villainized

NOTE: I watched this series in Chinese

Series in one sentence:
A fanged, clawed beast somehow evolved to enjoy grass.

Series in more sentences:
An old dragon is randomly deemed a powerful beast of legends, and when he meets a little girl willing to sacrifice herself to him with the goal of defeating the demon king, his peaceful life comes to an end as he's dragged along a dangerous adventure he's not built for by an overly eager child.

It was alright. It tried to get its point across in its short runtime, but with episodes of about 10 minutes long, you'll always end up sacrificing characters and plot.
I expected the blond boy to get a much bigger role, but after he's instructed to drag a rock through a city, he's never seen again. The sacrificial girl is shown to be a powerful being, but really, that's all they have to say about her. I'm not sure what I witnessed in those flashback scenes with her father.

She and the dragon started to annoy me after 3 or so episodes. Her whole deal is that she's easily offended for her "master", while the dragon shouts and whines all the time. He doesn't even care to keep up appearances for longer than half a millisecond, even though it's one of the first pieces of advice given to him.

The whole demon king quest sounds grandiose, but here, it felt really small-scale. I couldn't even discern if the ghost guy at the end was said demon king, but I don't think he was, meaning the anime ended without having completed the main objective or even bringing it up anymore. Maybe they intend on making a second season, which I'm not sure I'll check out.

Nevertheless, if you have nothing to do, this'll help you pass the time.